I went to the Verizon store in Sherman Oaks today and screwed around with the Droid demo phone for a while. It seems to be a pretty capable phone overall, but not quite an iPhone killer.

The biggest thing holding this phone back is that you can't pinch to zoom like on the iPhone. That single feature is so incredibly handy when navigating websites or maps that it's really hard to do without it.

The touch screen is very responsive aside from that. Clicking links in the web browser was a little frustrating, as the phone usually selected the link below the one I was trying to tap. I'm guessing this is something I'm just not used to on this particular phone. The touch keyboard is almost identical to the iPhone and I can use it just as easily. I thought the slide-out keyboard was crap. My thumbs are too big to use it without mashing more than one key at a time. Perhaps that's something that takes practice, but I found it immediately frustrating. Fortunately the phone gives you the option to use the touch-screen keyboard if you choose.

Android 2.0 seems interesting. The UI does feel slightly cluttered to me, but I obviously didn't have a chance to sit down and customize the phone to my liking as it was the store demo. However, this phone is fast. It's really snappy when navigating through the UI. The Facebook application really flies.

Overall I'm impressed, but I think there needs to be one more generation of Android phones released before I'm ready to switch over from my iPhone. Luckily that will be right around the time that my contract with AT$T expires.

Overall I'm impressed, but I think there needs to be one more generation of Android phones released before I'm ready to switch over from my iPhone. Luckily that will be right around the time that my contract with AT$T expires.

--B

You should keep in mind that this is the first Android 2.0 device to hit the market. Other devices will be different all around since manufactures are free to customize the interface and add features as they see fit.

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Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace. -- James Madison

The Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms. -- Samuel Adams, Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 86-87 (Pearce and Hale, eds., Boston, 1850)

I went to the Verizon store in Sherman Oaks today and screwed around with the Droid demo phone for a while. It seems to be a pretty capable phone overall, but not quite an iPhone killer.

The biggest thing holding this phone back is that you can't pinch to zoom like on the iPhone. That single feature is so incredibly handy when navigating websites or maps that it's really hard to do without it.

The touch screen is very responsive aside from that. Clicking links in the web browser was a little frustrating, as the phone usually selected the link below the one I was trying to tap. I'm guessing this is something I'm just not used to on this particular phone. The touch keyboard is almost identical to the iPhone and I can use it just as easily. I thought the slide-out keyboard was crap. My thumbs are too big to use it without mashing more than one key at a time. Perhaps that's something that takes practice, but I found it immediately frustrating. Fortunately the phone gives you the option to use the touch-screen keyboard if you choose.

Android 2.0 seems interesting. The UI does feel slightly cluttered to me, but I obviously didn't have a chance to sit down and customize the phone to my liking as it was the store demo. However, this phone is fast. It's really snappy when navigating through the UI. The Facebook application really flies.

Overall I'm impressed, but I think there needs to be one more generation of Android phones released before I'm ready to switch over from my iPhone. Luckily that will be right around the time that my contract with AT$T expires.

--B

The GSM Euro version of the DROID(Milestone) has pinch and zoom. Blogs are speculating that the Droid can too, but is not supported as Google might not want any problems with Apple.